Shhh! Governor and lobbyists hard at work
Is it soup yet?
When is a clearly legislative meeting not a legislative meeting? According to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, when food is served.
Last month Brownback was slinging a lot of hash for Kansas lawmakers. He hosted seven informal, social gatherings. Only members of certain legislative committees were invited to each dinner and every invitee, spare one, was a Republican. The lone Democrat figured her invite was a mistake and did not attend.
If state business was on the menu, these meetings would appear to be clear violations of Kansas open meetings law. And some attendees told the Topeka Capital-Journal that state business was discussed.
Brownback’s office, ludicrously, maintains that these were purely social events, and that even if they weren’t, only the legislators and not the governor were in violation of state law, as he is not a “body or agency of the state” so is not covered by the law.
It’s a weasel-esque defense, at best. Kansans have every right to expect better from the head of their state, and they have every right to expect that the public’s business will be conducted publicly.
Bad wolves
In an act not unlike trying to sneak meaty bones away from hungry wolves, Missouri’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and GOP cohort Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania tried to convince the Senate to permanently end earmarks. At first go, at least, they failed.
Huge surprise.
Their bipartisan bill is called the Earmark Elimination Act. It would pick up where a temporary ban leaves off when it ends in 2013. “Earmarking is a flawed, arbitrary process that should end,” said McCaskill, who refuses to seek earmarks.
Instead of backing the bill, many in Congress are seeking loopholes to get around both it and the temporary ban. The bill is a noble fight, though, and the best interests of taxpayers are served if it passes.
Payday for lobbyists
Supporters of the payday loan industry, clearly stressed out by an initiative petition campaign to cap annual percentage rates on short-term loans at 36 percent, are going with an if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em strategy.
Jewell Patek, a Jefferson City lobbyist, filed two initiative petitions with the Missouri secretary of state’s office this week. One would limit interest rates to 360 percent a year, not exactly a revolutionary change, since the average annual percentage rate of a payday loan in Missouri is 445 percent.
A second petition would cap interest rates at 13.99 percent “unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.” You know, like signing a contract, which is what goes on now.
Both petitions would leave low-income Missourians wide-open to predatory lenders.
All the more reason for voters to examine petitions closely before signing. It surely isn’t coincidental that Patek’s petition caps annual interest rates at 360 percent — just a digit away from the 36 percent cap called for in the genuine reform effort by Missourians for Responsible Lending.
One step back
What happens when a vision collides with a hard reality? Brownback’s legislative agenda revolves around moving 350,000 Kansans off traditional Medicaid into private managed-care programs.
However, the state’s largest private insurer, Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Kansas, has said it won’t bid on the effort.
Brownback was right to identify the need for Medicaid reform and savings. He is to be praised for innovative thinking.
But it may be time to head back into planning. The Blue Cross snub raises a disturbing question: If the state’s largest insurer doesn’t see good business in this plan, how much can Kansas rely on anyone to make it work?
One step forward
Two sessions ago, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed a bill requiring some insurance plans to cover approved behavioral therapies for autistic children.
A report this week showed that nearly 4,000 Missourians received autism treatments covered by their insurance plans in 2011, at an average cost of $143 a month. Contrary to some predictions, the new law has not resulted in skyrocketing insurance premiums or health care costs, the state’s insurance commissioner said.
Are you listening, Kansas? The legislature there has hedged on comprehensive legislation to help autistic kids.
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Kay Fox
Kansas City
3 months, 1 week agoLone unnamed female Democrat thought it was a mistake and didn’t attend? What a snot. The Star never, ever stops attacking Brownbeck…it’s amazing how small minded our press can be on a continual basis.
Bad wolves…or political opportunist like McCaskil, speaking of wolves! How transparent!
Lone shark lending should be 2% points above the interest paid on a bank savings account…come on! Get behind a good cause and stop focusing on your party politics. Well?
Do the Mennonites have autistic children? If not why not? What’s their average per 100 kids? What’s the difference between their kids and ours? Vaccines perhaps? You tell me.